Sunday, May 26, 2013

How do the Yankees do it? Seriously, year after year the seemingly
ageless New York Yankees continue to be at the top of the division. This
year has been the worst of it. The lineup is essentially spare parts
and Robinson Cano. Lyle Overbay routinely bats clean-up. The rusted
behemoth Travis Hafner sits behind him and then it is a collection of
backups and stopgaps as the normal travelling all-stars nurse various
and sundry injuries. This was supposed to be the year that the Yankees’
age and dollars catch up to them. It was not a n uncommon belief to
think that the Yankees might even finish at the bottom of the AL East.
And, yet again, here we all are looking at the Yankees with 30 wins
before June.

As a Baltimore fan watching the Yankees
do this year after year causes me a special kind of pain. My first game
of the year was the contest against the Yankees this past Monday. I was
given a remarkable ticket by a colleague of mine. Sitting in section 42,
which is a grandly significant number for those of us who always know
where our towel is at, I noticed immediately that I was, of course,
surrounded by fans of the hated pinstripes.

Maybe it is something about the uniform that makes the Yankees just be. I
know that there are only a few things that I see that cause me such a
visceral reaction of disgust: seeing those symbols elicits a physical
reaction of dread and revulsion. The point of that little meander is
this: the Yankee uniform carries with it the game’s greatest histories
and the souls of its greatest players. The interlocking NY, as much as
it makes me want to wretch every time I see it, carries with it a
certain power. And the players know that. How else do you explain a guy
like Vernon Wells?

Wells was left for dead in Los Angeles.
He comes to New York and suddenly he is playing like he did five years
ago. Same can be said for Hafner. Or how about players like Francisco
Cervelli, who should never be as good as he is, or Lance Nyx, or Melky
Cabrera for that matter? Players that on any other team you know would
be also-rans and benchwarmers come to New York, are thrust into the
spotlight while wearing that uniform and they suddenly succeed. I know
for a fact that I am not the only non-Yankee fan in the world that is
repulsed by the sight of the team when they come to town. And the team
knows it to, I am sure the hatred fuels this team on some level. Why
else would they be called the Evil Empire?